The News received emails from several residents who said they had complained to the city that the Caruso-related billboards along Sunset were illegal because they violated the Palisades Specific Plan.

Some residents said they had filed their complaints with the Department of Building and Safety, and some said they had filed with Street Services.

The News turned to Mayor Eric Garcetti’s press secretary, George Kivork, to sort out the issue.

Advertising signs in the Palisades business districts have to be approved by the Design Review Board and follow the Pacific Palisades Commercial Village Neighborhoods Specific Plan.

According to Kivork, Building and Safety received a complaint about signage on the fence fronting Sunset. The DBS Code Enforcement investigator made an onsite visit and issued an order for Caruso to remedy the illegal signage on the fence.

However, upon secondary investigation, DBS Code Enforcement determined that the fence was in a public right of way and thus under jurisdiction of Street Services, at which point it closed the code violation case.

Simultaneously, a Street Services inspector noted that the Building and Safety Case Management team had requested a meeting to resolve the issue. During the week of March 13 through March 17, a Bureau of Street Services investigator spoke with the contractor, who said he was working to bring the fence in compliance with city regulations.

At the March 23 Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting, Palisades Village Project Manager Michael Gazzano said, “The status is unknown at this time.” He said they hoped to work with schools on obtaining student artwork to grace the fence, instead of advertising for the Caruso project, but that this objective was still in the planning stages.